The 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event field shrunk from 27 players to 18 on Tuesday night as the tournament aired on ESPN. Two players began with over 20 million in chips and five of the top nine stacks were seated at the ESPN feature table.
PokerStars pro Johnny Lodden was the first casualty of the night after 3betting all-in before the flop with pocket eights and receiving a call from Matt Affleck, who held A-10. Affleck turned a pair of tens and Lodden exited in 27th place from the Main Event.
In a rather bizarre hand at the feature table, Filippo Candio raised to 305,000 before the flop with 8-6 of hearts. Matthew Bucaric, holding pocket nines, didn’t notice that Candio had raised and instead announced, “Call.” His declaration was blinding and the flop came 7-8-J with two hearts. Bucaric check-raised all-in and Candio called, singing to himself as the turn gave him a flush. Bucaric was ousted in 26th place and Candio’s assault on the leaderboard continued.
Michael Mizrachi scooped a pot worth 2.8 million after rivering two pair, leaving ESPN commentator Norman Chad to remark, “Grinder can now build some additions onto his chip complex.” At another hand at the feature table, Hasan Habib, the only player left in the field over 40 years old, doubled up to 2.5 million after his pocket fours held against the K-Q of Matthew Jarvis.
John Dolan doubled up through Scott Clements, the only multiple bracelet winner to make Day 8, by hitting a flush on the river to best Clements’ straight. After Ronnie Bardah ran A-K into Candio’s aces to be shown the door, Rob Pisano followed suit by running top pair into Jonathan Duhamel’s wheel to cripple his stack.
Duy Le called all-in holding A-K on a K-10-K-6-6 board for kings-full and received a double up courtesy of Soi Nguyen, who tabled 7-6 for a smaller full house. Le’s entourage of female supporters cheered loudly and he continued his march toward the 2010 WSOP November Nine. During the hand, ESPN announcers revealed that Nguyen told them he didn’t know what implied odds were.
Thor Hansen departed in 22nd place to end the first of two one-hour episodes. To open the second installment, Affleck dropped two-thirds of his stack in a hand against Jarvis after the latter hit a set on the turn. Affleck struck back, however, doubling up through Jarvis with pocket aces against A-K. Affleck told the table that it was the first time he had been all-in the entire tournament and watched as an ace hit on the flop to give him a set. Affleck moved to 9.5 million in chips following the hand.
Eliminations of Redmond Lee and Patrick Eskandar trimmed the field to 19. Then, the chips began flying as the hand of the night occurred at the feature table. Candio, holding 7-5, check-raised to 4.4 million on a 5-6-6 flop for sixes-up. Joseph Cheong moved all-in with pocket aces and Candio called all-in to build a pot of 26.8 million. The turn was an eight, giving Candio an unlikely open-ended straight draw that hit on the river. Candio, who had been relatively quiet since being issued a one-round penalty for excessive celebration, went hog wild when his straight came in, jumping like a kid in a candy store around the stage.
Michiel Sijpkens, the only player left in the field capable of breaking Joe Cada’s record as the youngest Main Event champion ever, saw his hopes of a bracelet dashed in the waning moments of ESPN’s coverage on Tuesday. He was all-in before the flop with pocket jacks in a coin flip against John Racener’s K-Q. Racener hit a queen on the flop, but Sijpkens picked up a club flush draw on the turn. However, the river was a red deuce and Racener knocked out Sijpkens to condense the field to two tables.
Next week, play on Day 8 continues and the November Nine will be determined. Catch all of the action on Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN.
